Royal Caribbean International Cruises

Royal Caribbean International Activities

Good-looking, activity-packed floating resorts, Royal Caribbean’s ships are all-around winners. The line just loves churning out new and often wacky ideas one after another. And who’s complaining? Royal Caribbean is among the most innovative in the cruise business, building not only the biggest ships, but the most fun. Extra activities include, surfing, rock climbing, ice-skating, boxing . . . what’s next? Royal Caribbean Cruise Ships Sails to: Caribbean, Panama Canal, Alaska, Mexican Riviera, Bermuda, Hawaii, Canada/New England, plus Europe, and the transatlantic.

The Royal Caribbean Experience

Royal Caribbean prides itself on being ultra innovative and cutting edge, pushing the envelope with each new class of ship they build. If there’s something that’s never been done at sea before, Royal Caribbean will figure out how to offer it. The latest ship, Freedom of the Seas, has not only the rock-climbing walls and ice-skating rink inherited from the Voyager class before her, but a slew of even more eye-popping features, from a jump-in-and-get-wet surfing simulator to a full-size, bona-fide boxing ring and the industry’s first water park. Cruises on these fun, active, and glamorous mega-ships offer a great experience for a wide range of people, whether your idea of a good time is riding a wave or relaxing in the Solarium pool. There are huge children’s centers for the kids, and entertainment for adults is varied and sometimes even novel, such as the comedians and jugglers who parade through the Royal Promenade on the Voyager ships. Decor-wise, these ships are a shade or two toned down from the Carnival brood: Rather than trying to overwhelm the senses, many of their public areas are understated and classy. The Radiance-class vessels are the line’s most elegant to date, with a sophistication that’s up near the level of Royal Caribbean’s sister line, Celebrity Cruises.

Royal Caribbean International History

The world’s second-largest cruise line, Royal Caribbean International (originally Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines) began in the late 1960′s as a consortium of Norwegian ship owners who wanted to get in on the rapidly expanding American market. Ever since its first ship, the brand-new Song of Norway (no longer in the fleet), debuted in 1970, the company has prided itself on introducing new shipboard innovations. After completing its first three ships (the others were Nordic Prince and Sun Viking) by 1972, Royal Caribbean “stretched” its first two ships and built the much larger Song of America in 1982. These early Royal Caribbean ships became the prototype for virtually all cruise ships since.

By the early 1990′s Royal Caribbean moved on to another challenge: designing ships for use outside its traditional cruising grounds in the Caribbean. While the company had sent some of its oldest, smallest ships farther to destinations like Alaska and Europe — Royal Caribbean hadn’t built a ship specially designed for worldwide cruising. This changed in 1995 with the introduction of Legend of the Seas, a spectacular new ship that brought Royal Caribbean into a whole new era. Smaller than the Sovereign-class ships, Legend was by far the most luxurious ship Royal Caribbean had ever built, with bigger cabins, more space per passenger and a wider variety of public areas and open decks. The popular shipboard mini-golf course was introduced, as was Royal Caribbean’s now-signature adults-only indoor/outdoor pool area, the Solarium, one of the most impressive shipboard spaces that had been built to date. Legend was closely followed by its sister, Splendour of the Seas, and then by two pairs of slightly larger near-sisters: Grandeur and Enchantment of the Seas, and Rhapsody and Vision of the Seas.

But, the biggest thing on the horizon for Royal Caribbean — quite literally — is the first Oasis-class ship, set to enter service in 2009. At over 40 percent larger than Freedom of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas will once again mean that a Royal Caribbean ship is the biggest in the world. (Only a few supertankers exceed the size of Oasis- or Freedom-class ships.)